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FULL TELEGRAPHIC AND CABLE NEWS SERVICE'
OF THt UNITED PRESS
THE DAY BOOK
500 SO, PEORIA ST. 398 TEL. MONROE 353
Vol. 1, No. 210 Chicago, Wednesday, May 29, 1912 One Cent,
HE'S A NEGRO BOOTBLACK, BUT A HERO WHO SAVED
MANY FROM A WATERY GRAVE
Dove Repeated in Icy Salt Water to Rescue Drowning Women
"Ah Always Wuz a Good Swimmer," His Only Remark
When Hundreds Congratulated Him on His Bravery.
Seattle, Wash., May 29. A
man was having his" shoes shined.
They were natty tans, and the
wearer was a fussy dresser. New
ton Johns, small negro and shine
expert, was officiating. The job
washalf done when a-crash rent
the air, followed by screams.
"Hey!" yelled, the fussy dresser.
v "W, here's you going? Come back
and finish the job."
But the bootblack was speed
ing .in the direction of the steam
boat dock, from, which a moment
' before "hundreds "of passengers
had been going aboard the steam
er Flyer for1 Tacotna. The hoist
ing, machinery which raised and
ldwe'red the gangplank in the slip
had "broken, and the plank fall
ings, 60 men, wtfmen and'children,
had been hurled into'the waters
of the harbor.
The edge of the balcony was
thronged with excited people.
"Let jne through-!" the 'boot
black shouted, and catapulted
against the iuman mass. ,
He went through it like a shot.
A man was holding a coil of rope
and hopping up and down. Johns
grabbed one end of the rope.
"Hold tight!" he said, and went
over the edge splash! He al
most landed on top of a woman
floundering in the water. The
shock of the sudden immersion in
the icy salt water was like a shock
of electricity. It numbed him at
first; then set every nerve to
tingling cruelly. He opened his
eyes under water, and the salt
made them smart. But he kept
them open.
For the woman was beneath
him, and sinking still. He could
see her clearly.- Her long hair
had come undone and was spread
out and waving like sea-weed.
Head down, Johns swam after
her. Now and then he stretched
out an arm experimentally, for
distances under water are deceit
ful. He could not reach her. His
threshing legs drove him down
still farther. His lungs were
bursting He released the air